COMC.com question

[stangy24]

For those of you that use COMC, how do you about using it for low end inserts and RC's? I have a ton of cards that book for $1-$5 that won't sell or are aren't worth it fee-wise on eBay...

Would love to hear some feedback either way...

:grouphug:

 

[bozemanbreaker]

I gave up on sending any low end as it just sits with the dozens of others and never sells.

 

[stangy24]

I gave up on sending any low end as it just sits with the dozens of others and never sells.

Even at super cheap (75+% off Beckett) prices?

 

[DeliciousBacon]

Most of what I buy on COMC is low-end, and some of the players I collect aren't easily found at shows here. I rely heavily on people sending in that sort of stuff, and it's a good chunk of what I sell (when I'm not too lazy to send in a shipment).

 

[stangy24]

Most of what I buy on COMC is low-end, and some of the players I collect aren't easily found at shows here. I rely heavily on people sending in that sort of stuff, and it's a good chunk of what I sell (when I'm not too lazy to send in a shipment).

Good to know. This is the sort of collector I want to move this type of stuff to. Thanks for the feedback!

 

[DaClyde]

Before they upped the per-card submission fee to $0.25, I'd submitted and sold dozens of Topps, Fleer and Panini stickers on COMC. So some stuff will move, especially if no one else has submitted it. Some stuff will just sit. And look at it this way. If you managed to pick up a $50 BV card in a $5 pack, and then sell it on COMC for $25, after submission fees ($3 batch fee + 0.25 for the actual card, supposing you only sent it in a penny sleeve) and the initial outlay for that pack, you're still looking at $16.75 profit on that card. If you then used that $16.75 to cover the submission fees for more cards, you're essentially submitting those cards for free. The only place book value even entered into this equation was because the buyer thought they were getting a good deal by picking up that "$50" card for $25. At that point, you only had $8.25 invested in that card anyway.

If you think more toward your overall balance sheet, and not what you're getting per card, you can find a lot of ways to make money on cheap cards on COMC.

And almost everything I buy is cards under $5 for my Winfield, Kelly and Presley collections.

 

[RustyGreerFan]

Good question, and I was in the same boat you were. Here is what I did, and I recommend this strategy:

1. Wait for a special. I waited until there was a special where you could buy a voucher for $78 to send in 500 cards. I think that works out to 15 cents a card. Since they are about to make a big move to a giant location, I wouldn't be surprised to see another special soon.

2. I prepared a batch of 500 cards. For the most part, I went through my boxes of cards I didn't want and looked to see if they were already on COMC. If not, then I included it. If there was only one or two and I knew I could easily beat the current price, I included that as well. Some will act like this is ridiculous, but it really didn't take that long and I have lots of free time.

3. With that special you also agree to give COMC three months to process, so you have to be patient :mrgreen:

4. Once my cards hit, I wanted to them to sell while they were "fresh." I priced to sell for the most part, checked to make sure I was the lowest-priced seller for each card, and only in some instances did I have a price at 50% of high Beckett or higher. I kinda went by feel on that and if the card was the only one on COMC.

5. Considering I was prepared to accept most offers, I was stunned how many people won't even try to offer - they just buy the cards straight up. I was also surprised that my basketball inserts went first. I only had a handful - (a Rodman Predictor, Ultra Stars Camby, etc).

6. My cards were priced fairly enough that I had made sales before I was done pricing my batch.

7. I did place a 2-day ad when my cards hit announcing fresh cards. I do not believe this ad helped me at all.

8. Again, I aggressively accepted offers because you never know when that's the last time you'll get a bite on that card, and I'm not in this for the long haul.

9. Once cards sit on COMC for three months, you start getting charged a penny a month for each card that is over 25 cents (the threshold is higher if you have an upgraded account). So after 2 months and a few weeks I slashed my prices on a Saturday morning. Almost all cards that booked for $5 or less I dropped to a quarter. Cards FLEW out of my account like crazy.

10. If my math is right, and considering the $78 fee, I still made $100 from cards I didn't want to buy cards I do want. Plus I still have over 200 cards in inventory from that shipment.

I think back to how I was trying to sell these lower-end cards on ebay - so much hassle for so little profit. I could not sell that Rodman Predictor after listing it twice. After about 24 hours on COMC it sold for $2.71. Yikes, I just noticed that Camby doubled in bv since I sold it!

Here are some of the cards I've purchased with that $100. It's hard to believe I got this awesome stuff for a bunch of cards I didn't want.

Diamond Immortals Juan Gonzalez $6.95
Chipper Jones Diffractor $7.50
Lot of 9 Gwynn Teks for $9 that I then flipped on COMC for $21
New Pinnacle Keeping the Pace Griffey $6
2 1995 Finest Refractors of guys I collect (Buhner/Greer) $4.25
1998 Finest The Man Refractor /75 Tony Gwynn $20
a 2000 Bowman Retro/Future Refractor of Rusty Greer I had never seen before $1.75
98 Thunder Rave Juan Gonzalez $4
98 Thunder Rave Curt Schilling $3
98 Precious Metal Gems Tony Gwynn $24
Roy Halladay 40-man Rainbow /40 $9

 

[stangy24]

Thanks guys. Anyone else have any feedback?

 

[Gwynn545]

Here are some of the cards I've purchased with that $100. It's hard to believe I got this awesome stuff for a bunch of cards I didn't want.

Lot of 9 Gwynn Teks for $9 that I then flipped on COMC for $21
1998 Finest The Man Refractor /75 Tony Gwynn $20
98 Precious Metal Gems Tony Gwynn $24

I guess I really need to step up my game! It's hard enough finding things before player collectors!

 

[alwayson22]

I, too, use COMC for low-end cards. I'm mostly a player collector and COMC is a great place to pick up a bunch of base (and other low-end variations and inserts) to combine shipping and fill out my pc.

 

[RustyGreerFan]

Here are some of the cards I've purchased with that $100. It's hard to believe I got this awesome stuff for a bunch of cards I didn't want.

Lot of 9 Gwynn Teks for $9 that I then flipped on COMC for $21
1998 Finest The Man Refractor /75 Tony Gwynn $20
98 Precious Metal Gems Tony Gwynn $24

I guess I really need to step up my game! It's hard enough finding things before player collectors!

Now just to be fair, I did offer you those Teks first!

 

[Gwynn545]

Here are some of the cards I've purchased with that $100. It's hard to believe I got this awesome stuff for a bunch of cards I didn't want.

Lot of 9 Gwynn Teks for $9 that I then flipped on COMC for $21
1998 Finest The Man Refractor /75 Tony Gwynn $20
98 Precious Metal Gems Tony Gwynn $24

I guess I really need to step up my game! It's hard enough finding things before player collectors!

Now just to be fair, I did offer you those Teks first!

At 200% mark up! :lol: No biggie...I should have found them first! Thus is the hobby! Plus, I need to learn how to make a best offer!